Kate, Lion?
by GiraffePanda2
Summary: X-Men First Class: Kate is just a girl. With a tail. All she wanted was a family. When Charles and Erik recruit her, she will find just that. And maybe something more. OC
1. Katching the Kate

**Okay, this is my 2****nd**** real story; I got the first two chapters written out, mostly. So um, here it goes?**

**GiraffePanda2 does not own anything in this story except Kate.**

Charles and Erik had to get one more mutant. They drove up to a library in Newtown, Ohio. A small, quiet, little town. When they got there, Charles told Erik to stay behind, because he the feeling that this mutant might run. Leaving behind a slightly irritated Erik, Charles entering the building and started to search with his mind for the mutant. Different thoughts filtered in: _'Crap, my books are overdue.' 'When is lunch?' 'Stupid DNA!' 'No Edward, don't leave Bella!'_

Wait, DNA? Charles backtracked and focused on that one thought. It lead him to the children's section, where he found a young girl, age between 15 or 16 at the most, sitting at a table all alone surrounded by books. When he got closer, Charles saw that instead of teenage romance novels, the books were about genetics and….. Cats?

"You need something?" The girl asked, not looking up from her book. Instead she just shifted uncomfortably. Charles put on a smile and sat down in front of her. "Hello Kate, my name is Charles Xavier."

The girl's head shot up immediately, and she scooted back. "Don't be afraid," Charles told her calmly. "I'm like you." Kate's eyes grew wide and she leaned forward. "Really?" She breathed. Kate offered him a smile, while simultaneously thinking to herself, _'You need to get out of there Kate. Run in one, two.-_

"Three?" Charles finished for her, raising one eyebrow at her thoughts. Kate froze and started to curse herself inwardly. The professor's eyes grew wide at her thoughts.

Kate slammed her hands down on the table. "Get out of my head old man!" With that, she took off running, but instead of racing after, Charles simply got up and walked after her, and sent a message to Erik telepathically. _'Erik, she's coming. Grab her please.' _

Erik wasn't sure what this new recruit could do, or what she looked like, but a small teenage girl wasn't exactly was he pictured. Kate had burst through the library doors, right into him. Confused and momentarily stunned, Erik grabbed Kate by the hood of her green jacket.

Instantly, she started to struggle, but Kate wasn't all that big, so Erik just lifted her to keep her flailing limbs away from him. Suddenly, Charles appeared by Erik's side. "Put her down." Erik scowled, but did so. Kate landed gracefully on all fours and dusted herself off.

Noticing Erik staring at her, she growled at him, "What?" Kate suddenly felt a light flicker by her hair, and turned around, barely getting a glimpse of a golden-furred tail. Kate gave a silent sigh of frustration and tried to stuff it back in to her clothes.

"That's a tail." Erik stated. She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, I can see that." Kate crossed her arms and pulled down her black beanie some more. "You mutants like me?" She asked her voice suddenly shy.

Charles offered her a warm smile and nodded. Kate tilted her head to the side, looking at Charles, she pointed to him. "A telepath?" She asked and he nodded. Kate then moved her focus to Erik. "And what can you do, Mr. Frown-face?"

Erick scowled even more so at Kate's nickname and told her, "I can manipulate the electromagnetic fields in the air." The girl nodded as if she understood, but her mind was going like, _'What?' _

Charles chuckled a little and simplified Erik's answer for her. "He can control metal."

Kate's eyes grew wide again and she leaned forward. "Really?" She asked Erik. "C-Could you show me?" Erik and Charles had a telepathic argument. Charles won.

Erik sighed and picked up a tin can hat was littering the sidewalk. Kate reached for his and grabbed it. "Amazing." She breathed unconsciously. Kate blushed and turned to Charles. "What do you want with me? Gonna try and fight a war?" She laughed lightly at that.

"Something like that." Charles answered her. Kate stopped laughing and stood up straight.

"Well, alright-y then," She stated, "If you're coming to me, then that means you must really need my help. Let's go!" She tugged on her beanie a bit more.

Charles and Erik looked at each other, simultaneously thinking: _'What have we've gotten ourselves into?'_

**Okay, there's the end of chapter one! Almost two pages. I hope you enjoyed, I think I can update sometime soon-ish. Please review and check out my other character, Celia(also known as Shirley, Megan and Toby) in my story: Shirley and Sherlock!**

**~Written by a friendly fan-fiction reader/writer, and her OC's: Kate, Shirley, Celia, Megan, Toby and Sophie.**

**Bye!**


	2. Meeting the mutants

**Second Chapter!**

**GiraffePanda2 Does Not Own Anything Except Kate! Sorry if there's some OOCness in this.**

-Meeting the Mutants-

After grabbing what little she possessed and throwing it in a bag, Kate was ready to go. Minutes later, she was sitting in the back seat of the car. Charles was driving and Erik was in the passenger seat. After a few hours, and a couple of feeble conversations, Erik and Charles decided to switch drivers. While Charles was getting into the passenger seat, he looked back at Kate, and laughed. He nudged Erik and nodded in the young girl's direction. She was curled up against the door, her tail wrapped around her body. Erik's face softened for a moment, but he quickly turned around and focused on the road.

~Later, later, later~

"Kate." Kate heard her name being called, but she just curled closer and shut her eyes more tightly.

"Okay, admit it. That was kind of adorable."

"Adorable won't defeat Shaw, Charles."

"Erik."

"…Okay, fine, it's slightly cute. Now wake her up before I do."

Kate opened her eyes slowly and stretched out, her tail unfurling along. She sat up and popped her neck and asked Charles and Erik, who were looking back at her. "We there yet?"

"Already here." Erik told her, and Kate eagerly shot out of the car with a smile on her face. She was very anxious to see the other mutants. Kate grabbed her bag out of the car and faced Charles. "The others….." She started to ask, suddenly looking down and being shy. "Do they have mutations…? Like mine?" Charles hesitated, and Kate's face fell. But Erik smirked and just said, "See for yourself." Kate looked ahead of them at the impressive secret CIA base.

Raven was coming towards them, going straight for Charles she called out. "Charles!" Embracing him, he returned it warmly, and Kate felt a sudden stab of pain in her heart.

"Who's this?" Raven asked, shooting glances at Kate. Kate, instead of answering, slowly let her tail unfurl and flicker around back and forth. Raven's eyes grew wide. Suddenly she smiled and told Kate, "You're gonna fit right in." She grabbed Kate's hand and started to pull her away from Charles and Erik. Kate allows herself to be taken away by the pretty blonde, but not before shooting a panicked glance at the two men. Erick stifled a laugh and Charles just smiled and mouthed, 'Good Luck'.

Raven and Kate, after trading names, entered a room with a small mini bar, a fish tank, and some couches. Kate thought she saw a pinball machine in the corner. But what intrigued the young mutant most about the room was the people inside of it. They looked only a bit older than her. A lean African-American man was joking around with another handsome blonde fellow. A redhead boy who looked like he was in college was jugging down a soda, a nerdy-looking guy with glasses and a beautiful girl with black hair who was picking at her nails.

"Hey! Guys!" Raven called out to the group of teens. Kate felt all eyes on her, but she smiled and waved despite her blush.

"We got a new recruit." Raven explained. After everyone introduced themselves, they all settled on the couches, and the group of teens resumed their previous conversations before Kate arrived. Kate didn't mind though, she was used to being left alone. She lived in the attic of a library, she was usually quiet and well-behaved, but her curiosity got the better of her sometimes, resulting in trouble. After all, curiosity killed the cat, right?

Raven interrupted Kate's thoughts. "We should think of codenames. We're government agents now; we should have secret code names. I wanna be called Mystique."

The redhead, Sean, laughed and said, "Darn, I wanted to be called Mystique."

Raven laughed and told him, "Tough! I called it!" And then something amazing happened. Blue scale like things crossed over her body and suddenly there were two Sean's in the room. "And I am way more mysterious than you." After that she turned back, but Kate was still watching her, still in awe at what she had done.

"What you about you, Darwin?" The shape-shifter asked the African-American ex-cab driver. "Uh, well, Darwin's already a nickname and all. And it sort of fits. Adapt to survive and all." As he said this, Darwin moved over to the fish tank and stuck his head in. His skin suddenly grew gills and he pulled himself out. Everyone clapped, including Kate, who was now wondering what the rest of the mutants could do.

"What about you?" Darwin asked Sean.

"I wanna be called Banshee." He told them eagerly.

"Why do you want to be named after a wailing spirit?" Hank, the nerdy-looking guy, asked him curiously.

Kate decided to interrupt then, "Banshee's are from Irish mythology, they are seen as female spirits who come as the messengers of death. They often wail right before someone is to die." Kate was going to continue but stopped because of the looks on everyone's, but Hank's, faces. Sean raised an eyebrow at her but told everyone to cover their ears. They did so.

Sean started to concentrate and leaned down to a glass sitting on the table. He opened his mouth and a high-pitched, LOUD, shriek rang through, breaking not only the glass but also the window. Everyone slowly lowered their hands and started to clap, except for Kate who was scratching at her ears painfully, regretting her heightened sense of hearing.

The beautiful dark-haired girl, whose name was Angel, stood up from where she was sitting between Kate and Raven. "My, uh, stage name is Angel." Sean let out a whistle as she took off her jacket and turned around. A life-like huge tattoo butterfly wings covered her back, and then they suddenly popped out and turned real. "It kinda fits."

Everyone gasped stood up. Kate looked up at Angel and told her, in awe, "They're beautiful." Angel winked at her and said, "That's not all." She looked out the window and suddenly spat out a loogie. It hit the statue and it burst into flames.

_Acid spit. _Kate thought to herself, _sweetness. _

"What about you?" Angel asked Hank, who shied away from the sudden spotlight.

"How about Bigfoot?" Alex, the handsome blonde from earlier joked. Hank looked ashamed and Raven came to his rescue.

"Well you know what they about guys with big feet." Raven looked down at Alex's, "And, uh, yours are kinda small." Everyone but Kate Alex laughed. Alex turned a bit red and scowled but Kate just cocked her head to the side.

"I don't get it." She said out loud. "What do they say?" All the teens turned to look at her incredulously. Angel gave the young, clueless, girl a smile and started to whisper in her ear. Raven pulled her back and told Kate, rather nervously, "Nothing important sweetie, just forget about it." Raven glared at Sean who was trying, and failing, at holding back laughter.

"What's your power?" Kate innocently asked Alex from beside him. Everyone jumped. No one had noticed the young girl moved quietly over the back of the couch and to the chair where he sat. Alex narrowed his eyes at and then almost sheepishly told them. "I can't do it here."

Darwin pointed outside, "Could you do it out there?"

Alex sighed and went outside, everyone started to follow him but he warned them, "Stay back." He got ready outside but everyone peeked around the corner of the window. "Stay back!" He warned them again, and they did it, only to come out again. Alex sighed, frustrated, but he took a breath and released big red rings of energy from his chest. They banged around outside, destroying the statue.

Silence followed his show of power. Until, once again, Raven broke it. "Havok." She said.

Everyone stared at her. "We should call you Havok." She told them simply. Alec climbed back into the room through the window, a bit sheepish now and turned to Kate.

"What about you shorty? What can you do?"

Kate took a step back and shook her head. "Mine's not something I really like to show off. It's really more of a deformity than a mutation." Angel swung an arm around the girl's shoulders. "Oh come on, it can't be that bad."

Kate still didn't look convinced.

"Hey," Darwin told her, "you're among friends now, you can tell us." Kate slowly nodded.

"Just, um, don't laugh, okay?" She asked them. "No promises," Sean told her and Alex elbowed him. Kate just giggled and turned around. She let her tail escape from her clothes and made it flicker back and forth.

"That's a tail." Hank stated. Kate gave a chuckle and said, "Yeah, I know." She crouched to the ground and then shot up, leaping to the hang onto the chandelier. She hauled herself onto it and crouched there, looking down at them.

"I'm part animal." She explained.

"You're part cat?" Sean asked her, disbelievingly. "No." Kate deadpanned. "I'm part lion. See, Lion tail." She jumped down to the couch, landed on all fours and stepped off gracefully. "I don't just have a tail, though." She admitted.

"Oh, really?" Alex asked her, raising an eyebrow. Kate nodded and opened her mouth. Fangs sprouted from her teeth. Her nails grew longer and were now pointed. She took a hostile position, crouching slightly with her back arched.

"Calm down kitty." Sean joked to her and she turned to him rather abruptly, hissing. Sean leaped back, afraid.

Kate stopped and took a step back. Her fangs and claws withdrew, but she didn't put her tail back into her clothes. "My claws and Fangs can retract, like a lions, but my tail is always there. That's why I wear baggy clothes, to hide it." Kate explained.

"Amazing." Hank told her, a little breathlessly.

"Yeah, it can be pretty helpful. I have a better sense of smell and hearing. I can see better in the dark and I am more graceful. But it's not all good. Like, I'm terrified of dogs, doesn't matter the breed, and I prefer my meat really rare."

Everyone laughed a bit at the end.

"Plus, I hate water, can't stand when it rains. And I get sleepy when I drink milk." Kate muttered the last part.

Raven smiled at Kate and hugged her. "Welcome to the family, Kate."

You can all guess what happened next.

**Yeah, stuff happens…..**

**That's it for now. **

**Bye! ~GiraffePanda2**


	3. The Smell of Death and Blood

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Kate!**

It wasn't supposed to end up like, thought Kate to herself.

Kate was now awkwardly sitting between Angel and Raven on the couch, staring at her hands, still sticky and wet. Sean, Hank and Darwin were all lounging around in other chairs around the room. Alex was leaning up against the wall, clearly upset, yet also disappointed at himself. Kate sighed and bowed her head. All she really wanted to do was return back to her library, take a shower in the sink, and read some more books.

Let's rewind a bit, shall we.

After everyone showed off their powers, things were kicked up a notch… or two…

Kate didn't know how it happened, all she remembered was Sean handing her a 'Coke', whatever that was, Raven taking it out of her hands, Angel turning up some music, and the boys, excluding Hank, yelling around and messing with the pinball machine.

Soon, somehow, Sean and Alex had started throwing things at Darwin, Raven and Angel were dancing up on the couch, and Hank was hanging upside down on the chandelier by his feet, which Kate thought was really cool.

Kate, you may ask, well….

Kate was sitting behind the bar, poking a metal can of Coke, and scratching at it with her claws. It was cool to touch, so Kate tossed it a bit around in her hands. Kate looked up suddenly and cocked her head. She blinked and then muttered, "Oh crap."

"What the he** is going on here?!" Moira yelled at them. (Kate learned her name later) Moira, Eric, and Charles were standing in the courtyard, looking through the broken window. Everyone stopped what they were doing except Kate, who continued to play with the can of coke.

Kate heard everything Charles and Eric were saying, and when Raven told them their nicknames, she snickered a bit at Eric's response. Kate opened the can of coke to taste it, but was surprised when it exploded and squirted the drink at her. She yowled, not unlike a cat and immediately dropped the can.

Eyes were on her and Kate looked up, smiling sheepishly. Her hair dripped in front of her face and the front of her hoodie and shirt were wet. "Curiosity killed the cat, eh?" She offered up nervously. She could tell that despite the seriousness of the situation, Sean was holding back laughter at her.

"I expect more from you."

Kate turned to face Charles, who was looking at Raven. He shook his head and walked away, joining Eric. Moira left too.

_Present time_

"I think, that, it's time for me to go cleanup, and take shower." Kate told everyone, she stands up and turns to leave.

"Hey, look!" A man called out, someone from in the courtyard. Everyone looked outside. "It's the freaks." Kate's heart and ears dropped. Freaks, is that what they were? She didn't think that she was that weird, I mean, she had a tail, but still…

"Hey, you," the man pointed at Angel, "How about you give us a little-?" The man flapped his hands, demonstrating her wanted to see her wings. Kate noticed another man was with him, but instead of taunting them like the other, he was just embarrassed. Angel turned her head away and Hank stood up.

"Oi! Bigfoot, show us the foot, show us the foot-oh come one!" Hank had closed the curtains. Raven placed her hand on Angel's shoulders but she shrugged it off.

"Hey," she started, "Those guys were just being jerks-"

"I'm used to guys being jerks." Raven snapped at her. "But I would rather have guys stare at me with my clothes off, then how they stared at me back there."

Kate cocked her head and wondered did Angel really feel that way? "Really?" She half whispered, half asked herself.

Thump.

Everyone eyes perked up, and Kate strained to use her extra hearing. "What was that?" asked Darwin. "Sounds like it was coming from outside." Raven answered. All the mutants had stood up now and Hank was slowly approaching the window. He opened up the curtain and Kate sniffed the air.

"No!" She shouted, reaching her hand out to stop Hank.

THUMP! A man's body fell from the sky, and landed in the grass outside. The girls screamed, but for Kate. She crossed the room, to approach it. Alex grabbed her wrist, "Stay." He ordered her. But Kate shook him off and moved forwards. "Kat-" Raven's words died on her lips as Kate shot her a look. Slowly, Kate approached the window and just as she was about to step outside, another body hit the ground. Kate screeched a loud, high pitch noise that did not sound unlike a cat and sped around and dove to the couch, hissing. Kate crouched on the couch staring outside, everyone stared at her. The quiet and shy cat like girl they had met before had been replaced with something a bit more... feral…

Gunshots echoed throughout the building, and men's screams followed. Kate covered her ears and whimpered. Go away! She ordered them, "Let us be!" She had shouted out the last thought, but no one heard, but the gun shots were getting closer, and so were the screams.

"No, please! There are the mutants, leave us normal ones alone-!" Bam! Silence… Instead of anger, Kate just felt a pang of regret, was she not normal?

Bam! The door flew open, and in walked a man wearing a funny looking metal helmet, and another who had red skin and a man with long dark hair.

"Where's the telepath?" the helmet one asked.

"Not here." Answered the red skinned one.

"Ah, good, then I can take this thing off." The man took off his helmet and tucked it under his arm. All the kids had lined up except for Kate, who had somehow ended up behind them.

"Good evening, my name's Sebastian Shaw. And I'm not here to hurt you."

Suddenly, Kate attacked. With her claws out stretched, eyes wide, back hunched, she had crouched and then launched herself through her friends and toward where Shaw was. Her claws were out, along with her fangs but he she was simply knocked over by the red-skinned one. She was up in an instance, and taking a defensive position.

Kate hissed at him, but he simply hissed back. "Kate!" Raven called to you and Darwin grabbed her from behind, hauling her back to the other side of the room. Kate struggled and bit, before finally giving in. But she still didn't remove eye contact from Shaw.

Shaw spared her a glance but moved on to observe the rest of the mutants. "My friends," he started, Kate practically growled, friends? He** no.

"There's a revolution coming. When mankind discovers who we are, what we can do, each of us will face a choice. Be enslaved or rise up to rule. Choose freely, but know that if you are not with us, then by definition, you are against us." Shaw had met the eyes of everyone, but now was focused on Angel. Kate sniffed the air, the smell of fear, anger and crazy met her nostrils.

"So," Shaw brought back her attention. "You can stay and fight for the people who hate and fear you. Or you can join me, and live like kings and queens." Shaw offered his hand to Angel who looked at everyone before slowly coming forth, and taking it.

"Angel?" Raven asked the shock and betrayal shown clearly in her voice.

"Are you kidding me?" Sean demanded. Kate just took a step back before trying to make a running leap towards Angel, trying to bring her back and knock some sense into her. Darwin caught her arm though, and held on. Kate struggled and looked up at him. Their eyes met, and without even saying a word, Kate stopped and backed away. She knew what was going to happen. She knew the consequences, chances, and the statistics even. They weren't looking that well.

"Come one," Angel said walking away to join Shaw and his men outside the window, "We don't belong here, and that's nothing to be ashamed of."

"Anyone else?" Shaw asked them as he and his men and Angel stood in a row.

Suddenly, Darwin and Alex started a small scuffle, which ended up in Darwin pushing away Alex and moving forward.

"Count me in." Kate's heart broke this wasn't going to end well…

"What can you do?" Asked Shaw.

"I adapt to survive so I guess I'm coming with you."

Shaw smiled and told him, "I like that." Darwin moved to join them before shouting, "Alex! Now!"

Everyone that was still inside dove for cover behind Alex and Alex let rip his power. Red rings of pure energy ripped through the air right to Shaw, and while Darwin had turned to stone and covered up Angel, it wasn't necessary.

Shaw immediately somehow swallowed up the rings in his hands and Kate's breath caught in her throat. No. No, no, that's wrong. That shouldn't be happening.

Kate missed whatever Shaw said, but she managed to catch Darwin punching Shaw, Shaw blocking the punch and then grabbing Darwin by the face. "Adapt to this." He hissed and shoved the newly formed red rings in his hand inside Darwin's mouth. With that, they teleported away, leaving behind Darwin and the others.

Darwin shifted form, metal to earth to stone, trying to keep the rings inside, but it was too much. With his last dying breath, Darwin reached out to Alex and the energy destroyed him from inside out. He was nothing more than ash now. The other mutants slowly came out of hiding and stood by Alex, who despite appearing tough, you could see he was shocked behind compare.

Kate took a timid step forward into the yard, dead bodies littered the courtyard and the smell of blood and death was overbearing. Kate retracted her claws and fangs, her tail drooped. With a flick of her wrist, Kate flipped up her hoodie. She let out a breath and looked at the others.

What the he** just happened?

**Okay, first off:**

**Apologizes! I am sorry for being so late with this, as well as my other stories, but I am finally getting back to writing, so that's good. Also, I just recently watching XM:FC, I got a lot of things wrong, I am sorry for that, but I already had everything written up and did not want to change anything else.**

**Anyway, that's it; I have more plans for my little OC Kate in the future. Goodbye and God bless.**

**-GP2!**

**(Remember to review!)**


	4. Car trip

**Okay, here you guys go, next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own XM: FC I don't own mutants, nor am I one. I do, however, own Kate. So there!**

* * *

Kate was scared.

And that doesn't happen very often.

This scared her even more.

Kate wasn't scared when she lived behind a dumpster, she wasn't scared when her parents kicked her out, when she found out they replaced, when she lived in the attic of the library, she was worried, cautious, heck, even a little sad. But she had never been this frightened since she woke up with a tail.

Kate was curled up in a little ball on the ground. She was hugging her knees and staring at the floor. She still couldn't believe what had happened. Did Angel really join the dark side? Did Darwin really die?

She lifted her heads. All the mutants had exited the building and now sat outside at what used to be the front of the secret CIA mutant base. Mutant. What did that even mean anymore?

Kate had just thought it meant different, special. One of a kind. Kate studied her hand; the claws hadn't retracted until long after the fight was over. What did this mean? That she was growing more and more like her wild side? Would she lose control completely one day?

Kate remembered Hank mentioning something about a formula using Raven's blood that could keep their mutation, but make them look normal. Would Kate ever need to use that? Would she become a cat completely?

"There they are!" Raven shouted out, pointing to where Erik and Charles were pulling up in a car. Raven ran towards them and embraced Charles. The familiar pang appeared in Kate's heart, but she was so used to it, so used to the pain, she barely even noticed.

"We've made arrangements for you to be taken home immediately." Charles told them when they approached. Kate looked up, was she going back to her library, or an orphanage? Unlikely anyone would ever adopt her, half girl, half lion.

"No." Kate spoke, her voice seemed small, but firm.

"What?" Charles asked them. The kids had made a pact not to be separated while they waited for the adults to arrive.

Sean pointed at Alex. "He's not going back to prison."

Alex reminded Charles and Erik, "He killed Darwin."

Charles said, "All the more reason for you to leave. This is over."

"No." Kate whispered this time, so no one but Sean heard her. He squeezed her shoulder. Kate smiled, she wasn't completely alone.

Raven stood in front of Charles. "Darwin's dead Charles, we can't even bury him."

A tear rolled down Kate's cheek.

Erik looked up and told the mutants. "We can avenge him."

Kate's head shot up, avenge? Not likely, almost every single type of 'avenge' in every book that Kate read ended up badly. Like death badly.

Charles eyes grew angry and he took Erik by the arm and pulled him away. While everyone else had normal hearing, Kate could hear what they were saying.

"They're just kids."

"No, they were just kids. Shaw has his army, we need ours."

_Army?_ Kate smiled. _Army. Hmm, doesn't have such a bad ring to it._ Charles sighed and turned back to the group of what used to be 'just kids'. They all stood attention, serious faces on all of them.

"We'll have to train. All of us." Alex nodded.

But Hank brought them back to earth. "We can't stay here, even if they re-opened the department, it's not safe. We've got nowhere to go." Kate agreed with him, it wasn't safe here, not anymore.

"We could always try my hometown, I know a good couple of warehouses. And there's alway room in the library." Kate suggested. In truth, she would like to go back to her library for a bit, maybe clear her head.

Charles gave her a small smile, "I don't think we're that desperate. I know a place."

* * *

Charles refused to tell where they were going, but Kate knew that Raven knew, because she had this certain gleam in her eye. Kate ended up squished between Alex, Sean in the back while Hank and Raven shared the middle and Charles and Erik got the front seats. It was a bit amusing at first to see Erik driving a mini-van up to the CIA base and Kate had spent a good minutes laughing her tail off.

"We there yet?" Kate asked Charles jokingly. Everyone groaned and Kate laughed. Strange, how she could laugh so soon after a death of a fellow mutant. Charles sighed and mentally communicated with Kate.

"_You're enjoying this, aren't you?"_

"_Yup!"_

_-Sigh- "We're not that far, maybe one or two hours at the most. Take a nap or something, just try not to annoy the big, easily angry man driving the car please."_

_"Oh please, Erik wouldn't get angered by something so small."_

Kate spoke too soon, because Erik took a harsh turn and Kate was squished. She let out a quiet "Ow!" and glared at the review mirror. Erik caught her eyes and smirked. Sean, who was on the left of Kate had watched the whole encounter and now laughed at Kate's expression.

Kate hissed at him and Alex muttered, "Down kitty."

She threw her hands up in the air. Kate leaned back in her small seat and closed her eyes. Hopefully she might sleep before they arrive. Before she knew it though, Kate was out. The last thing she heard was Raven telling Charles, "You're an evil man."

Kate wondered why.

* * *

**So can anybody guessed why Raven told Charles that? I can give you a hint. "Nap time!"**

**Anyway, I hope y'all liked this chapter, I'm gonna work on the next one. Bye! And please, please, review! Oh, btw, I got over 500 views, how sweet is that? Oh, information.  
**

_This means Kate's thoughts.  
_

_This means Charles.  
_

**(But just for that conversation.) Anyway, with that out of the way, it's time to say-**

**-GP2!**

**-GP2!**


	5. We're finally here

**Fifth chapter, I am on A ROLL!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own X Men first class, how many times to I have to say it? I do own Kate though. She's my OC.**

* * *

After Kate had fallen asleep in the car suspiciously quick, Hank asked Charles a question.

"What did Kate mean by library?"

Hank wasn't the only one who was curious. Sean leaned forward, careful not to stir the sleeping ca-lion. He was careful not to stir the sleeping lion. Even Alex perked up slightly.

Charles cleared his voice and gave a side-glance at Erik. Erik shrugged, indicating Charles should do what he thought best.

"Well," Charles started. "As you know, we found you all in all very different places. Kate's happened to be at the library."

"Why there?" Hank asked.

"She was looking up DNA books about genes and cats. I believe she was trying to figure how she got a tail."

"Ah." Sean said and he leaned back, it wasn't as interesting as he thought.

"But why would she mention there again?" Alex asked.

"I lived there." Kate murmured. She hadn't stirred, but her eyes were barely opened. "In the attic." She gave a huge yawn and then leaned onto Alex's shoulder. He stiffened and stared at her with wide eyes. Kate had fallen back asleep.

Everyone but Sean, who openly smiled at his friend's discomfort, stifled a smile. Alex very carefully removed Kate from his shoulder and leaned her against Sean.

"Wait, wait what are you-oh okay, okay…." And that's how it was for the last bit of the drive. Hank and Raven discussed the serum, Charles argued with Erik about which directions to take and Alex and Sean kept switching Kate between them.

Kate woke up when Alex shoved her hard against Sean. Instantly her claws were out and her eyes changed. She hissed before realizing where she was and who she was with. Rather sheepishly, she retracted her claws and her eyes turned back brown. "Sorry." Kate apologized. "Bit of a reflex."

"We're here." Raven said, looking out the window.

"Where?!" Kate asked. She climbed over Sean to get a look out the window.

"Ow!" He yelled. She had elbowed him in the stomach.

"Oops, sorry 'bout that." Kate secretly smiled to herself. She had done that on purpose.

Erik parked the car in the driveway and everyone poured out. Kate stretched to the sky, her tail unfurling. She could finally relax and not worry about her tail.

"Wow."

Kate turned around and hurried over to where the rest of the group was. She stared at the house, no it wasn't a house. It was a mansion.

"This is yours?" Sean asked Charles. He smiled and replied, "No. It's ours."

Erik sarcastically told Charles, "Honestly Charles, I don't know how you survived. Living in such hardship."

Raven grabbed Charles arm and hung on to it. "Well, it was a hardship softened by me." She turned her head around, "Come on, time to start the tour."

Kate smiled to herself. "Ours, huh?" She whispered. Everyone was walking ahead her. Kate looked up to study the mansion. "I think I could get used to this."

"Hey pussycat, you coming?" Alex yelled from across the yard. Kate's head whipped around.

"What did you call me?!" Kate ran as fast as she could to the group, grinning and laughing. Maybe being apart of this wasn't going to be so bad.

* * *

**Yeah, so, super short chapter, sorry, I just wanted to end it like this. Don't worry, next chapter will be much longer, we are heading into the training montage, so after the next chapter, there will be like a bunch of little drabbles that include all the things Kate would and will do. Like getting stuck up in a tree. Or falling asleep in front of the fireplace. Or getting distracted by a ball of yarn.**

**Also, a thanks to people who have reviewd and favorited and followed. I think I have got like maybe eight or nine followers, so that means I should be getting at least three reviews for each chapter... I've got maybe one or two reviews for the entire thing... So please, REVIEW!**

** With that out way, it's time to say-**

**-GP2 OUT!**


	6. Training

**Aaaaaand sixth chapter, wow, I'm getting a bit emotional here, please ignore the tear drops!**

**Disclaimer: GP2 does not own XM: FC she only owns Kate. She doesn't own the other characters; they are only her (borrowed) puppets for this story.**

* * *

"And this is your room."

After showing everyone the kitchen, living room, dining room, workout room, and backup kitchen, Charles had dismissed them for the rest of the day. Raven showed everyone their bedrooms if they wanted to freshen up. Hank went straight to the lab and then Alex went into his room, hasn't come out yet and Sean went off on his own somewhere. So that left Raven and Kate alone, and to be honest, Kate was a bit pleased, she remembered having girl friends at school, but that was before she had a tail. Raven and her shared something none of her other friends did with her. They were both mutants.

Kate strode into the light and airy room. It was big, which was nice, and it had a window that overlooked the grounds. "It's beautiful." Kate told Raven. "Very cozy."

Raven nodded and smiled. Kate walked up to the window and stared out on to the grounds. Kate's smiled disappeared and she sighed.

"Hey," Raven approached her. "You okay?"

Kate took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine, just," She took another deep breath. "I'm just a little sad." Raven studied Kate's face, and noticed that her eyes were getting watery.

"Oh, oh, oh, it's okay." Raven cooed. She took the small lion girl into her arms and stroked her hair. "It's okay." She repeated.

Tears fell on to Kate's cheeks and she took a wobbly deep breath. "I-I" she tried to say, but she couldn't get anything out, so Kate just embraced Raven back.

Raven took a good look at Kate. The girl was trembling, and Raven could see that she was still trying to hold back tears. Raven pulled back and wiped the tears away. "Hey," Raven said softly, getting Kate's attention. "It's okay. It's okay to cry, we all have to cry sometimes, it's a part of being human."

Kate looked up at Raven. "How old are you?" She asked her. Taken back, Raven answered her. "Twenty, why?" Kate smiled. "You know, you'd make a pretty good mom." Raven smiled a wry smile. "Thanks kiddo." She ruffled Kate's hair.

"Hey, hey, hey, not the hair!" Kate said, trying to get her hair back to its original position. Raven started to giggle and soon, Kate did too. After their little giggle fest, Kate wiped away the rest of the tears.

"Feeling any better?" Raven asked her, Kate nodded.

"Good, now, you wanna go have some fun?" Kate nodded again and grinned.

"Kay, follow me!" With that, Raven led Kate down the hallway.

* * *

_Girls? Could you please join us in the living room?_

Kate jumped up a foot at least when Charles voice came wavering into her mind. Raven laughed at Kate's expression. "He loves doing that, he's such a show-off. You'll get used to it." With that, Raven took Kate by the hand and pulled her to where the Living room was.

Alex, Sean, Hank, Erik, Moira and Charles were already there. Raven went straight to Hank and sat next to him. Kate followed behind and sat in front of the couch.

Charles clapped his hands together. "Alright, since everyone is here now, I've constructed a training schedule for everyone. We won't start until tomorrow though, so no worries. Just relax and rest for tonight." Charles checked his clipboard that he was holding.

He pointed at Alex. "You'll be working with me tomorrow, meet me here at ten." He pointed to Raven next, "Raven, you already know how to strengthen your powers, but I want you to work out for at least an hour or two tomorrow, alright." The shape-shifter nodded. Charles continued telling them where and when the workouts would be. When he finished, Kate raised her hand.

"What about me?"

Charles cleared his throat. "Ah, yes, Kate, you're-"

"You're with me."

Everyone turned to look at Erik, who had been silent the entire time. He stopped leaning on the against the wall and started to walk away. "We start at one. Don't be late." He left the room, heading to go do who-knows-what.

Kate's face was frozen, until Sean laughed and hit her on the shoulder. Kate jolted and then stared at Charles, repeating in her head over and over.

_You have to be kidding me. You're lying, right? He's lying, please tell me he's lying. Oh, God, I'm going to die, he's going to kill me, I'm going to die, I'm going to make some sort of joke, and then he'll kill me!-_

_Kate. Calm down, I promise you, Erik will not hurt you in any way._

_Why, on _**earth**_ would you assign me to him?!_

_Actually, I didn't, he asked for you specifically. _

Kate was silent after that, brooding over what Charles had told her. Charles took a deep breath, and dismissed everyone, telling them to set their alarms to seven.

Kate got up and followed Raven out. She somehow managed to get to her room, undress herself, and get under the covers, because the next thing Kate knew, she was opening her eyes to sunshine.

* * *

Kate took a deep breath and threw the covers off of her. This was going to be a long, long day. She dressed in the unflattering grey sweats that were laid out on her dresser. As she stepped into her pants, she wondered briefly where they came from. In fact, that's what she was thinking the entire walk down to breakfast.

Luckily, for Kate, even though she didn't remember where the kitchen was, she just followed the scent of food. She walked into the kitchen, which was a bit old-fashion looking, but had a nice cozy feeling to it.

Hank was standing over the stove, scrambling some eggs, humming to himself. He turned around and screamed. Kate jumped up a bit at the sound. "Kate!" He said, clutching his chest. "I didn't see you there, you scared me."

Kate smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, it's a habit to sneak around, I'll try to break it."

"Don't."

It wasn't just Hank who jumped that time, although there were no screams. Erik had walked in, dressed in the same grey sweats. He grabbed an apple and a knife and started to cut pieces off of it, popping them into his mouth. Kate calmed her racing heart down and grabbed some of the eggs Hank made for everyone. She put them on a plate and sat down.

"You're quiet, and fast, right?" Erik asked her. Kate, surprised that he knew this, nodded. "Good, we'll work on that today."

Kate gulped. Not because she was afraid, but because of the fact Erik said 'today' which applied that he was going to train her more than once.

**Oh joy, this is going to be fun! (weak laughter... panicking laughter... crying hysterically on the floor.) (That's just my reaction though, if I was Kate, what really happened was this-**

Kate was very happy. She was happy that she no longer lived in the attic of a library, she was happy that she had friends like her, and she was also very, very, very, happy she was not dead.

Kate was currently playing Ultimate Hide 'n' Seek Tag with Erik as the seeker. At least, that's what she called it, Erik refered to it as 'training'.

"You're it." Erik touched her lightly with a finger on the top of her head. Kate wondered how on earth any one could say that with no humor or emotion in their voice at all. The lion girl sighed and climbed up from her hiding place, which was a laundry shoot. When she managed to shimmy her way up to the opening, she found Erik waiting. He didn't get out of the way, and Kate felt a sense of dread coming to her.

_Oh no._

Erik shook his head and pointed down back into the shoot. Kate almost let out a groan but kept it in, determined to show that she wouldn't give up. Kate slowly began her descent into God-knows-where very slowly and carefully, sliding only a centimeter down at a time. She had to be careful, because her hands and feet where getting a bit sweaty and if she wasn't careful-

Kate felt a hand on her hand and then before she knew it, she was rushing down the chute, her screams filling the air. One thought filtered through her brain.

_I'm going to kill Erik Lensherr._

* * *

Charles was heading out of the bathroom when he heard a high-pitched noise rushing past him. He looked at the wall, remembering that the hidden laundry shoot was there. Then he remembered Kate. And then Erik. Charles wondered if he should have a talk with him, but quickly decided against it.

* * *

Alex was walking out from the bomb shelter, tired and a bit frustrated from his training session with Charles. He was wiping his face with a towel when he heard, what he thought he heard a girl screaming. He just shook his head, he probably was just imagining it.

* * *

Sean was currently breaking glass cups in his room, trying to see how quiet he could go with his voice and still break glass. A loud, high-pitched scream startled him into dropping a glass. "Ah!" He said, crouching a picking up the pieces. He didn't even stop to think about the scream.

* * *

Hank and Raven were in a lab looking room, Hank showing off how much he had done with the serum and Raven pretending to understand all his science speak when in reality she was just staring and smiling at him, thinking about how cute he looked. "It's incredible, your genes, we-" Hank grew quiet and Raven asked him, "What?"

Hank cocked his head to the side, puzzled. "Do-do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Listen." Hank and Raven grew quiet and waited, they heard in the background a high-pitched girlish scream. "It's probably just Sean." Raven told him. Hank nodded and started to go back to work, but paused. He looked at Raven. "Wasn't Kate supposed to train with Erik today?" Both mutants stopped to think for a moment.

"You don't think," Hank began.

"Naaa." Raven said. They shared a look and then quietly went back to what they had been doing.

* * *

Kate, meanwhile, was still screaming. She was just starting to wonder when it would end, when she looked down and noticed the end of the chute approaching very quickly. Kate, panicking, shot out her claws and stuck them into the walls of the chute, hoping and praying that they would stop her motion. It worked. Kate slid to a stop, inches from the end. She let out a deep breath and retracted her claws. Letting out a small 'eep!' she fell into a laundry basket, safe and sound, if not a little scarred.

Kate got up, wobbling like a new born calf from the basket.

"Oh!" Kate looked around to see Moira standing with a small basket of dirt clothes, staring at her. Kate gave a weak smile and walked/wobbled past the agent. She managed to get two steps in before falling over.

* * *

**Okay, the end! I think, that may just be, my most favorite chapter to date, I just really like it. And I hope you do too, because it took me a good five to ten minutes to figure out how to spell laundry. Anyway, a couple more people have favorited or followed my story, so thank you to that! and I got another review! I wanted to put this out on the Fourth of July, but didn't make it, oh well. Anyway, so I think I have about maybe ten followers, so would it be too much to ask to get three reviews** **_for this chapter?_ I would really, really appreciate it! **

**BTW, does anyone actually know how old Raven is? I just put twenty, because I remember Charles not letting her drink, so I thought she wasn't twenty one just yet. ****  
**

**Also, you guys got to see an emotional scene with Kate there, now remember, she is kind of young, and from a small town, so she never really knew anyone who died. So she's dealing with that. Anyway, next chapter, will start the little (drabbles? prompts? I don't know, just small adventures, I guess) for Kate, tell me which ones you want to see next please! (I also plan on maybe having a chapter where she bonds slightly with each member of the team, but that's up to you guys.) Here are the options.  
**

**Kate getting stuck in a tree**

**Kate getting a ball of yarn**

**Kate getting into catnip**

**Kate meeting a dog**

**Kate falling alseep in front of the fireplace**

**Or, if you have an idea, please PM me about it, I may or may not use it though, just to warn you.**

**Okay, with that out of the way, it's time to say-**

**-GP2 OUT!**


	7. Catnip

**Almost every single one of the reviews asked for Kate getting into catnip, personally, I thought the tree one would win out, but we had an underdog come out for the win. So here it is, just for you!**

**Disclaimer: GiraffePanda2 only owns Kate. And catnip. (Just kidding, I don't.)**

* * *

It was all Alex's fault. All of it.

If he hadn't made Kate mad, then Kate would not have retaliated, and then Alex would not have gotten mad, and brought out the catnip.

Yes, it was all his fault.

It all began when Alex called Kate a "pussycat". Kate politely corrected him, saying that she had a _lion's _tail, not a pussycat. He politely (not really) continued to call her "pussycat" and other silly nicknames. So it was only fair that she got back, right?

Right.

Kate knew from various books how to dye something, all it took was one red sock. Or in this case, a red scarf. And a little lying. Sure, Kate felt bad about lying to Moira for the reason why she wanted to do the laundry, but after having Alex ask her is she wanted a ball of yarn, Kate wasn't feeling _that _guilty.

"KAAAATE!"

Kate's head whipped up and her eyes grew wide. Sounds like Alex found his load of laundry. Kate would have been a little scared, but she was tucked away in a cupboard, where no one would ever find her. But that confidence soon left her as she heard footsteps outside the kitchen. She held her breath as she heard Alex approaching.

"Kate, when I find you, I swear to God, I'm going to rip that tail off of you."

Kate clutched her (_lion's) _tail to her chest, she didn't want her tail ripped off... right?

_Kate._

Kate almost screamed and bolted, but luckily she managed to only let a small 'eep!' out. She shook her head angrily, Charles was going to be the death of her. Normally Kate would answer him back immediately, but she was hiding from anyone's wrath so she was a bit hesitant.

_Kate, I know you're in the the kitchen._

Kate curled up closer, hoping that he wouldn't know exactly where she was.

_Third cupboard on the left from the sink._

God she hated telepaths.

_Would you mind explaining to me why Alex is searching for you, and why he is also threatening to cut off your tail?_

Charles waited for a few moments before he heard Kate's hesitant answer.

_...I may, or may not have put a red scarf into his load of laundry._

_And this was the real reason why you wanted to help Moira with the laundry?_

Kate _really _hated telepaths.

_...He kept calling me pussycat._

_That's not a good enough reason to turn someone's laundry all pink Kate. Now I won't force you, but I advise you to come out of hiding and face Alex._

_No thanks, I prefer my tail attached._

_Fine, but I can't gurrantee what he will do._

_Come on, he wouldn't hurt me, I'm a girl, guys don't hit girls.  
_

Kate was right... in a sense.

* * *

After that, Alex decided it was time to pull out the big guns, and ran to his room. He had stolen it from Sean, a few days ago, kid still thought he had just lost it. Alex grabbed the box from under his bed, opened it and grabbed the bag from inside it. "Oh Kate!" He called out, "Here kitty, kitty kitty."

Kate's eyes narrowed but she just told herself, '_ignore it Kate, just ignore it.'_

Alex entered the kitchen and opened up the bag. "Kate, you'd better-"

Next thing he knew, he was getting bowled over by a hundred pound lion/girl. Kate had burst out of the cupboard, hissed and went straight for Alex. Alex yelled and dropped the bag of catnip, which Kate immediately grabbed and ran off, on all fours. Alex stood there in the kitchen, shock written all over his face.

Sean entered the room, bag of chips in hand and asked his fellow teammate. "Did Kate just run past me with a bag of catnip, that I _thought _I had lost, in her mouth?"

Alex shook his head. "I may, or may not have just given Kate catnip."

Sean dropped the bag of chips. "Oh s-"

Charles entered the room with a grim look on his face. He stared at Alex, then asked him, "please, tell me you did not just give Kate a bag of catnip."

Alex had the decency to look down in shame.

Raven and Hank came in the kitchen, confused looks on their faces. "Why is Kate-"

"Catnip." Sean, Charles, and Alex chorused.

"Oh."

"Yup."

Hank sat down in a chair. "Well, depending on how much of the catnip she eats, she should only last about two hours or so. If she eats the whole bag."

"What will happen to her?" Raven asked him.

"Since Kate is part ca-"

"LIIIIIOOOOOOOOOOONN!" Kate's scream echoed through the mansion.

"...part lion, which is a cat," Hank continued at a whisper. "She'll turn feral, She'll except her 'inner cat'. I think."

"So, basically, she's high." Sean simplified. "We have a rabid lion running around high all over the house. Perfect. Great going Alex, wanna just tick Erik off too?"

Charles clapped his hands together. "Well, I guess we have a cat to catch."

Sometimes, Kate really, really hated telepaths.

* * *

_An hour later_

Everyone, excluding Erik and Moira met back up in the living room, they had no luck catching Kate. Charles had long retired to his room, claiming it was punishment to the kids for giving catnip to Kate to have them try and capture her and calm her down.

Raven and Hank were flopped on the couch, Alex was leaning up against the wall, sulking and Sean had died on the floor.

"I give up. We'll never catch her." Sean said, panting from the floor.

"She's too fast." Raven added.

"And scary." Hank reminded them. They shuddered, remembering when Kate turned the lights off and stalked all of them, like a lion hunting for prey.

"What the he** are you doing?"

They all looked at the doorway, where Erik stood, shoulders back and arms crossed. Raven, Hank and Sean chorused together, "Alex gave Kate catnip."

Alex's head shot up, "She turned my laundry pink!"

"You called her pussycat!"

"Sean's the one who got the catnip in the first place!"

"Shut up!" Erik roared. Everyone quieted down. "Now, you're trying to calm the kid?"

They nodded.

"Then. Watch. Me." Erik turned around and called out. "Get in here you pussycat!"

Kate streaked in, like a rocket. Her beanie off her head, claws out, fangs out, and her eyes wide. She stopped in front of Erik and opened her mouth to hiss at him.

Erik took a deep breath and _freaking roared _at her. Kate's claws retracted, fangs disappeared and she fell back onto her rump.

She stared at Erik, eyes wide and out of focus. Then her eyes came back into focus and she shook her head. Slowly Kate got up, faced everyone and said in a weird, scratchy voice. "I- I think I'll go lay down now..."

Instead of going around Erik though, she went in through the other door, not even looking at him.

All the mutants looked at the German. He smirked and whispered. "Boo!" All the kids screamed and ran out. Erik laughed and went upstairs to play a round of chess with Charles.

* * *

**I know, I know. **

**Kate was crazy. Catnip doesn't actually do that to cats, I have read Warriors, I know it doesn't. But I wanted some fun with Kate. So thank you for all the fabolous reviews! I feel so blessed and such that people like my story! I cannot wait to hear your thoughts on this, and I thank you, my followers, favoriters, and guests! **

**Erik reminds me a bit of Wolverine at times, I don't really know why though, maybe by the fact that they are both kind of immortal, (THEY DON'T AGE) and they are angry. Very, very, very angry. ANYWAY, PLEASE REVIEW!  
**

**BTW, ****_This means Charles is talking telepathically._**

**_This means Kate is.  
_**

**With that out of the way, it's time to say-**

**-GP2 OUT!**


	8. Tree

**Here's an adventure for you peeps! **

**Disclaimer: GP2 doesn't own X-Men Frist Class, or any X-Men. She only owns her OC Kate. Please ask before using.**

* * *

It was all Sean's fault, All of it.

Kate was sure of that. She was also pretty sure that wandering through the woods on the grounds was a bad idea. Next time she was bored, she'll just go to the lab and bother Hank or something.

Kate sighed and wondered exactly how this happened and then she remembered it all started when she woke up that morning…..

**_(Cue flashback music)_**

Kate had woken up, eaten breakfast, nothing new there, but then Charles announced it would be a free day. All the kids cheered, including Kate. Charles also told them that Erik was in charge, because he and Moira had to go shopping.

So all the kids split up, Alex went off to go do who knows what, Raven and Hank were off… canoodling… Sean was… being Sean and Kate was left to her own devices, which basically meant that she had a free rein around the house as long as she didn't bother Erik.

Sean had mentioned Raven mentioning there being an old tree house somewhere in the woods and Kate was off.

Of course, Kate forgot that sometimes, she should look before running. And that sometimes, in woods, there are animals.

Wild animals.

Now, Kate, being half-lion, was fine with animals, in fact, sometimes she liked them more than humans, but when you're lost in the middle of a freaking-gosh-darn forest with the sun setting, animals, especially wild ones, are pretty gosh-darn scary.

So that's how Kate ended up where she is now, stuck up in a tree. It wasn't her fault that a stupid raccoon _army _came after her. All she had wanted to do was explore the woods, find an adventure, do something. Curiosity killed the cat.

Sometimes, Kate really hated being half-lion. (End of flashback)

Kate shifted on her branch, the tree bark digging into her skin. She couldn't have found a nice tree, of course; instead she was stuck up in an old, rickety, pine tree. And pine trees, people, have spikes.

She thought about climbing done, but decided against it when she looked down. Kate was beginnning to think that everything was hopeless, when an idea struck her. She could scream for help.

_ten minutes later_

That accomplished nothing. The sun was almost gone and her throat was now hoarse. And it wasn't even clear, either, so she couldn't admire the on-coming stars or the moon. All she needed now was for it to rain, then it would be perfect.

...

...

...

She had to say that, didn't she? Kate curled up against the tree, hugging it. Water dripped from the leaves on to her head, which was covered by her forever there beanie. It wasn't pouring though, Kate was grateful for that at least, but it was drizzling. Kate hated the rain with a burning passion that lit a fire underneath her soul.

Kate was forced to try and communicate with Charles via telepathically. While she was grateful for Charles getting her out of the library and she thought he was very nice, she didn't like the fact that he could read minds, it bothered her. She didn't like people poking into her brain, it seemed very unnatural. Now she was forced to call for his help and he might not even hear her. She took a deep breath and said in her mind. _Charles. _

Kate waited for a few minutes. Nothing. _Charles?_ She tried again. _You there? I could use some help._ Nothing. She tried yelling his name, same result. Maybe he was just out of range. Kate shifted on her branch again, wincing when the needles poked and prickled her skin. Kate hoped she wouldn't be reduced to saying his name over and over again.

...

...

...

Well, she was lost, in the dark, bored, hungry, thirsty, in need of a bathroom and stuck up a tree. She didn't have any other options. _Charles. Charles. Charles. Charles. Charles. Charles. Charles. Charles. Charles. Charles. Charles. Charles. Charles. Charles. Charles. Charles. Charles. Charles. Charles. _

**_(A/N: This could take a while.)_**

_Charles. Charles. Charlie, Charles. Charlie. Professor. Charles. Mr. Charles. Mr. Professor. Charles. Charles Xavier. Xavier. Xavier. Professor Xavier.  
_

* * *

Meanwhile, everyone was back at the mansion, safe and sound.

"I'm back!" Charles called to anyone who might be listening. He carried in the groceries, very happy and pleased with himself. He had gotten the ingredients for dinner, had a very nice coffee date with Moira and came back to mansion _not _on fire. All in all, it had been a good day for Charles Xavier. He smiled at Moira and called out once more, "Dinner!"

Sean and Alex came running into the dining room while Erik and Hank came down more slowly. The boys grabbed a takeout box each. "Dinner, huh?" Erik asked him. Charles blushed slightly, so the ingredients for dinner had turned out to be take-out. It was still food.

"Raven, Kate! Dinner is going to get cold!" He called out.

Raven walked into the room, "I looked for Kate, she's not in her room, anybody seen her?" No's and other negative answers filled the room. "No one then? No has seen her?" Everyone looked at Sean, who had went back to digging into the take-out. He raised an eyebrow and said with a full mouth. "Why everyone looking at me?"

They continued to stare at him. Charles shook his head, "I'll just search for her mind, shall I? I'm sure she just fell asleep somewhere, right?" Raising a finger to his temple Charles concentrated.

_-arles. Professor X. Charles-_

_Kate!_ Silence followed his answer to her calls. But then...

_Charles? _Her voice was wavering slightly.

_Yes, yes, it's me, it's time for dinner, could you come on down into the dining room?_

_...Do you know where I am?  
_

_No._

_Ah, okay... Well then, I'M IN A GOSH-DA**ED #$%^*$^&*%^& TREE YOU IDIOT!_

Charles jolted and Raven touched his shoulder. "Is everything okay?" She asked. Charles looked at her. "Hold on." He connected with Kate again.

_-ND, ANOTHER THING-_

_Kate, I'm back._

_...You didn't anything of what I just said, did you?  
_

_No, why?_

_I!__-You know what, it's not important, what matters is that you're coming to get me, right?  
_

_Right, we are on our way. Just stay tight._

_I'm not going anywhere Charles._ Her tone didn't contain any happiness or opstimisticness that Charles knew she almost always had. He knew then that Kate was very, very, very mad.

Charles withdrew from Kate's mind, after getting an idea of where she was. He looked at the group who were staring intently at him except for Sean who was eating. "Well, where is she?" Erik asked gruffly, but Charles knew Erik had a small soft spot for Kate.

Charles took a deep breath, "Well, apparently, she's stuck in a tree." Everyone paused and then laughed. Sean, however, had a look of horror on his face. Hank stopped laughing first. "You're kidding right?" Charles shook his head and everyone quieted down.

"Oh *$ #." Sean said. He lowered his fork to his plate. "Um..."

"Why is she in the woods?" Raven asked, worried for her fellow female mutant.

Sean had the decency to feel guilty. "Um, I may shed some light to that..." Everyone stared at him and he squirmed a bit. "I, um, may have, or maybe not..."

"Spit. It. Out." Raven hissed.

"ItoldKatetherewasasecrethiddentreehouseinthewoods ."

Raven blinked. "Why would she believe you?"

"I may have told her you mentioned it..." Sean trailed off.

Raven narrowed her eyes. "I'll let Kate decide what to do with you." Sean winced, maybe tricking Kate wasn't such a good idea...

Charles clapped his hands together, bring the attention back to him. "Well the, since that is out of that way, let's go get a cat out of a tree, shall we."

...

...

...

"You have no idea how happy I am to see your faces right now." It's true, they didn't. Kate was overjoyed to see Charles, Sean, Erik and Raven looking up at her. "When I get down, I'm going to kill you all though." Erik paused with the ladder.

"You all left me in a tree. While it was raining." Kate pointed out.

"Sean was the one who lied to you." Raven pointed out. Kate thought about this for a moment. "I guess you are right. Fine, you all get to live. Sean, you're dead." The banshee gulped. "Now get me out of this tree."

Erik grinned and placed the ladder next to her branch. "Need any help?" He asked her. Kate growled at him, "Not in the mood." Kate carefully climbed down the ladder, taking her time. When she got down she immediately stretched, then hugged Raven and nodded to Erik and Charles.

Grinning, she faced Sean. "Okay, I'll give you to the count of three." Sean laughed nervously, "Come on, now, I'm sorry about you getting stuck up in a tree-"

"One."

"I had no idea that it would start to-"

"Two."

Sean took off running. Kate looked back at Charles. "Let's head back." Raven asked her, "You think he'll get lost?"

"That's the idea, isn't it?"

* * *

**Dang, Evil!Kate plus Mad!Kate? Does not equal happy fun time. I thought this chapter would be a whole lot shorter, to be honest. Please, review. Thank you followers, favoriters and reviewers! With that out of the way, it's time to say- **

**-GP2 OUT!**


	9. Ears?

**Another Kate story, I have over twenty freaking follower's guys, THANK YOU SO MUCH! Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men, but I do own Kate!**

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Kate breathed in and out, in and out. It wasn't going to help her if she freaked out over this but… still…

Kate looked in the mirror and almost whimpered. _Ears?_

She took a deep breath, and remembered hoping that the little bumps under her beanie weren't anything serious just a few days ago. It had been a few days since she got stuck up in that tree, in the rain, so she had a stuffy nose all day.

Kate sighed and placed her beanie over her head once more, trying to find a way not to hurt her ears on top of her head. They were still tender. Kate winced when she put on her hat, it just wouldn't work, not like this.

She debated rather or not to go outside and just embrace her evolving mutation, or ask Raven for a different hat. She decided to go out and just sneak around, maybe they'll just disappear on their own.

Kate tried to make them go flat, but they still remained upright. Frustrated, she poked her head out the bathroom, and looked both ways, before continuing on. Hopefully, she wouldn't meet anyone else before going to her room.

Luck hates her, doesn't it?

Of course she met someone else luckily it wasn't Sean or Alex, but Hank, on his way back from the lab. Kate sighed a bit but still covered her ears when he passed her by. Hank stopped and asked her, "Um, are you alright Kate?"

She looked both ways before slowly lowering her hands. Hank's face did a gold-fish impression.

"Ah, well." He took a step closer. "Um, w-was that there, um, before?"

Kate shook her head no.

He 'ah'-ed and nodded his head. Awkward silence filled the hall.

"They're not that noticeable, right?"

"No, no not at all."

"Right." Kate looked at Hank. "I should go." She hurried down the hall, where she remembered Raven's room was located. She opened the door, not even knocking and then quickly locked it behind her.

Raven's head shot up from where she had been sitting on her bed, reading a book. "Hey, what's the-why do you have ears?"

"I don't know!" Kate threw her hands in the air. "And to be honest, I'm kind of freaking out. I mean, a tail, yeah, that I could get, but ears! I mean, how does that even work?"

"Wow, wow," Raven held up her hands, a gentle and understanding smile on her face. "Calm down kitty."

Kate shot Raven an unamused look.

"Your mutation gene was most likely not done evolving. Or something like that. You should ask Charles, he would know."

Kate rubbed her eyes wearily. "This is tiring. All I wanted was a bit of a rest after working out, but… then I get ears."

Raven offered her a smile. "Hey, it could be worse."

"How?"

Raven ruffled Kate's hair, (people seem to do that) "They could be dog ears."

Kate scowled and decided to leave.

_**Kate, Lion?**_

Kate stood outside the living room, where Charles and Erik were having another chess match. She hesitated, but suddenly Charles called out. "Come in, Kate, what's wrong." He was concentrating on the match, and didn't turn to look at her.

Kate froze and then relaxed; she walked into the room, and sat in between Erik and Charles. Erik looked up at her and his eyes widened for a second. "Charles."

"Mhm?" Charles looked up at Kate, freezing slightly at the sight of her ears. His eyebrows furrowed and he turned to face Kate. "I presume then, that this is what you wanted to talk about?"

"No, I wanted to know how to play chess." Kate's sarcasm was apparent. "Yes, I would very much like to know why I ears, thank you very much. Raven said something about my genes not yet done evolving."

Charles nodded and cleared his throat. "Yes, that is most likely what happened here, was there anything that could have jumpstarted it that you know of?"

Kate thought back the past few days. "Well, unless you talk about the whole catnip fiasco, and the getting stuck in a tree thing… then no."

Charles and Erik shared a look.

"Could it have been the catnip?" Kate asked, confused.

Charles opened his mouth to speak, but Erik interrupted him.

"Do you hate them?"

Kate was confused. Did he mean the ears? "The ears?"

"No, the chess matches, yes the ears."

"Well, I think they are just going to be more of an inconvenience really." Kate tilted her head, thinking. "I can't really wear my hat now that they are there, but other than that, I really don't see a problem."

"Then why are you here?" prompted Charles. He studied the girl before him, taking in what she looked like. She was a little above average height, still the shortest team member though, and had long limbs. She seemed lean, and her skin was getting a bit tanner from running outside so often. The lion tail was almost always free now, and it started to flicker back and forth. The newly added ears on top of her head added to her almost cat-like appearance. He inwardly smiled, she would have yelled at him if he called her a cat. She was very firm about how she was part lion, not part cat. Charles didn't see the difference.

Kate cocked her head to the side, her expression practically saying, 'is it not obvious?'

"I want to know why."

Erik had been leaning back in his chair, and he nodded for her to continue.

"I want to know why these things happen, and how. I guess it is part of my c-lion instincts. I've always been curious." Kate looked a bit sheepish now. "Why do you think I was living in the attic of a library? I was trying to find out why I had a tail, what prompted the genes in my DNA to mutate." Her eyes started to light up as she delved to deeper. "I've always found the science of genetics enthralling, how one tiny little detail can make such a difference, the difference between green eyes or brown, the difference between mutant or normal."

She took a deep breath. "I just wanted some answers as to why this would be happening now though. It doesn't make any sense." She looked at Charles. "Is this normal for mutants? Does this happen often between our kind?" She looked expectantly at Charles, as if he somehow might have answers to all her questions.

The two men showed looks and Charles answered her, "Those are all very good questions, but the truth is, we don't know. We don't know Kate, and I apologize for that. We don't know if your genes will further mutate, turning your physical aspects into being more feline, or if this is it."

Kate nodded, slightly disappointed but she perked up. "Hey, maybe after all this is over, we could find out," She smiled and moved forward.

"Checkmate." She moved one of the black chess pieces over, knocking the white down. The men stared at her and she chuckled. "If you distract your opponent the possibility of you winning goes up and astonishing percent." She left the room and despite no answers, she seemed okay with that.

Erik chuckled at Charles expression. "How'd she you do that?" Charles asked.

Erik smirked, "You're the mind reader, you tell me."

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**Hello, my fellow fanfictioners. **

**I would like to take this moment to talk with you.**

**Thanks so much for reading my story and favoriting it and/or following it that means a lot to me! I was asked if I was going to do a romance for this story, and I have two words.**

**No. Comment.**

**Not that I don't love you all, (in a totally non-creepy way) but I may or may not having something in mind for romance and I don't want any spoilers. We'll see.**

**Another thing, I have a bunch of followers now, so could I get five NEW reviews for this chapter? Thanks a ton! **

**I haven't yet truly described what Kate looks like, and if you have a certain picture in your head about what she looks like, tell me in a review or PM me. I know the whole ear thing is not really possible, and some of you might ask 'does she have four ears?' Truth is, its fanfiction, don't worry about logic, I haven't worked it out, she just has cat ears (lion ears).**

**I'm also thinking of redoing the first chapter, and possibly the second, just to make them a bit better, you don't have to go back and read them if you don't want too, I'm not going to make any big changes.**

**Thank you for reading this and with that out of the way, it's time to say-**

**-GP2 OUT!**


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